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| Denarius from Tiberius' reign with the inscription "Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus." |
Well, last night was my late night at work and I didn't get to the Thursday Advent reading. Perhaps I'll go back and catch up. It was supposed to be on Melchizdech. But here is tonight's.
The
First Friday of Advent
Augustus
(né Gaius Octavius, 63 bce–14 ce) founded and ruled the
Roman Empire beginning in 27 bce. He was Emperor during Jesus'
infancy and boyhood. Seutonious, in his Life of Augustus,
reported reported that Augustus had a miraculous birth and a
childhood filled with many portents and signs. Some instances
reported were fire from heaven (lightning) that struck his family's
city wall, a pillar of fire rising from the sacrificial wine poured
out in the temple on the day of his birth, and a dream his father had
of him appearing as a god-like figure. A few months before he was
born “a portent was observed at Rome which gave warning that Nature
was pregnant with a king for the Roman People.” This would be
troubling to those who desired to keep their own power. “Thereupon
the senate in consternation decreed that no male child born that year
should be reared; but those whose wives were with child saw to it
that the decree was not filed in the treasury, since each one
appropriated the prediction to his own family.”
Another
interesting story is related as such:
When
Atia [his mother] had come in the middle of the night to the solemn
service of Apollo, she had her litter set down in the temple and fell
asleep, while the rest of the matrons also slept. On a sudden a
serpent glided up to her and shortly went away. When she awoke, she
purified herself, as if after the embraces of her husband, and at
once there appeared on her body a mark in colors like a serpent, and
she could never get rid of it; so that presently she ceased ever to
go to the public baths. In the tenth month after that Augustus was
born and was therefore regarded as the son of Apollo. Atia, too,
before she gave him birth, dreamed that her vitals were borne up to
the stars and spread over the whole extent of land and sea, while
Octavius dreamed that the sun rose from Atia's womb.
Discussion
Questions
- Why do you think these stories about Augustus were told? Can you imagine how they would begin (“get started”)?
- Unusual birth stories are common in many cultures. What do you think these stories are trying to say about the person being born?
